Opioid-Related Overdose

This rise in opioid abuse and overdose, warrants an increase in awareness. Over the years reversal agents have been developed and others are still under investigation. The most commonly used opioid reversal agent in the US is naloxone. Many organizations are reporting an increase in the number

Once more, the lives of Canadians are being claimed by addiction and overdose of a new drug in the streets. For those of you who don’t know what fentanyl is, it’s a powerful opioid, 100 times stronger than morphine, that is often prescribed to help patients manage moderate to severe pain. As a highly addictive substance, many are now dependent on it, and it is one of the most frequent causes of drug overdose. Readily available for purchase online are quantities of pure fentanyl from China, but when improperly diluted in clandestine labs, it can lead to an immediate overdose. Recently, an antidote for opioid overdose called naloxone has become available without prescription, so that anyone can use it. Fentanyl has become a severe problem in the past few years, and while we yet to find a way to eliminate dependence on this drug, we must keep those who use it safe.

As we learned in class last week, victimless crime can be one of many things. Victimless crime is defined as a crime taking place where there are no harmful injuries done from one person to another. Instead, the damage being done is committed by the individual who is committing the crime. Some examples of a victimless crime are, Drug use, prostitution, gambling, suicide, traffic citations and trespassing.

Opioid abuse has become so widespread in Baltimore that on March 1, 2017, the governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan, declared a state of emergency. The rise in the number of opioid-related overdoses in the Baltimore have skyrocketed in the past few years. According to the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 1089 people, a majority from Baltimore, died of a fentanyl overdose in 2015. In 2016, the number rose to 1856 deaths. (Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene 14). The spike in overdose deaths can be contributed to the increased use of Fentanyl. Fentanyl is 50 times more potent and costs less than a third of heroin (Adwanikar; Duncan). Drug dealers mix fentanyl with heroin to make their product less expensive to produce

To improve the health of individuals in rural southeast, the disparities in access, health outcomes as well as quality of care are key areas to be addressed. Dr. Califf stressed the need for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) to integrate their individual plans to reduce the burden of opioid abuse. There is also a need for medical doctors to take

Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is the life-saving drug. It is what is given to people who have overdosed on heroin or another opioid as an antidote. According to Roosevelt University, it

Opiate overdose may cause significant failure to health, physical distress, breathing damage and increase mortality and morbidity. Vitamin D deficiency causes muscle aches, periodontal disease, osteomalacia and osteoporosis [6-10]. Low bone mass has also been reported in opioid-dependent individuals

As of 2014, 20,000 deaths were associated with narcotics and prescription drug overdoses in the United States. The most recent death of Prince has continued to keep the conversation of drug overdoses. Many patients use prescription drugs to control pain especially those with cancer. Drugs used to help patients can cause a serious addiction and may become dangerous with abuse.

National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that between the years of 2002 and 2012 the usage of heroin was 19% higher with the people that had already been prescribed pain medications.“Pooling data from 2002 to 2012, the incidence of heroin initiation was 19 times higher among those who reported prior nonmedical pain reliever use than among those who did not (NIDA). The idea that various doctors just throughout the united states are over-prescribing opioids is extremely concerning. This means that they are being careless, possibly being fooled by patients, and it means that they are ultimately partially responsible for the growing opioid epidemic. Bigger actions need to be taken by all levels of society to attempt to maintain and control this devastating reality. Along with research form many different studies performed throughout the united states, people also have suffered personally from the opioid epidemic. Overdoses are one of the top reasons for death in the US. They happen just about everywhere in the world, but more so in the United states that anywhere else. Congressman Zeldin Lee claims that ““As a whole, our nation has been debilitated by the rise of the heroin and opioid abuse epidemic, and as heroin and opioids flood the streets of our communities on Long Island and across America, the issue continues to become increasingly personal.”

The easy access of Narcan may encourage opioid overdose in the US. In Ohio, for example, the rates of naloxone administration have increased 38% from 2003 to 2012 (Massatti, 2013). Diagnoses of opioid addiction and abuse increased almost 330% from 2001-2012 (Massatti et al., 2014). This surge in opiate addiction correlates with the increase in naloxone usage. Moreover, there is concern that untrained persons lack the knowledge to recognize an overdose, which leads to a misuse of resources (WVU-ICRC, 2013). Naloxone is typically administered intravenously, intramuscularly, or subcutaneously (Clarke and Dargan, 2002). The activity of naloxone may cause a complete reversal of narcotic effects. This sudden change could result in acute withdrawal syndrome, which involves, nausea, vomiting and more severe symptoms such as tachycardia and cardiac arrest (DailyMed, 2013). Therefore, naloxone should be carefully administered to people who are suspected or recognized to be physically reliant on opioids. A patient who has responded well to naloxone should be continuously monitored, since the duration of action of some opioids may be greater than that of naloxone

Naloxone is a drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. In the past this drug was only available with a prescription from a medical official. But thanks to Governor Kasich and an emergency legislation, this drug is now available over the counter. Now it can be acquired without a prescription. Now loved ones of an abuser can administer the drug to an addict without being in fear of breaking the law and being charged with a crime. Now other states have been following a similar road, passing similar legislatures. John Kasich has inspired other states to join his fight against opioid abuse.

In their article, “The Effects of Pharmacological Opioid Blockade on Neural Measures of Drug Cue-Reactivity in Humans,” Courtney et al. investigates the role of opioid blockade on neural systems underlying drug craving. They tested whether blockade of opioid receptors can actually reduce the salience of the methamphetamine cues.

Classified as an antidote, naloxone gives individuals who overdose on opioids a second chance at life, but without access to proper treatment, these users will continue living in the cycle of addiction until either finding enough strength to pull through the recovery process or falling victim to life’s only certainty prematurely.

Drug overdose deaths have become the leading cause of accidental deaths in New Jersey. The crisis of drug addiction in teens and young adults has increased from 2012. According to a 2014 drug report, there has been an increase of 200% over the past five years in substance abuse mainly due to prescription medications (New Jersey Task Force). Furthermore, prescription medications may lead to other substance abuse problems. For instance, many youths turn to opiates and heroin which are less expensive than prescription medications to satisfy their addiction. In addition, opium is obtained from the milky sap of the poppy plant; this milky sap also contains traces morphine and codeine which are commonly used

While many people may assume that drug overdose is more prevalent in urban areas than in rural areas, the reality is reversed. Over the last ten years, rural areas surpassed urban areas in drug-overdose occurrences. Opioid use and the use of other drugs has increased dramatically nationwide, but as of 2017, rural areas have a drug overdose death rate of 17 per 100,000 people while the urban statistic is 16.2 per 1,000 people (which is 0.8 less deaths per 100,000 people). The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) proposed four hypotheses to explain this disparity. They are as follows: greater social and kinship connections; peer influence and lack of education concerning drug properties; easier access to prescription drugs combined with less access to treatment centers; and overall economic instability (Keyes). All of these conjectures have adequate support, however one is the most plausible. Drug-overdose related deaths are more prevalent in rural areas than in urban areas because of the overall economic instability.